Colleges gear up to aid influx of GI Bill vets

FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. — With a fattened GI Bill covering full tuition and more, the number of veterans attending college this fall is expected to jump 30 percent from last year to nearly 500,000. That’s left many universities looking for ways to ease the transition from combat to the classroom. Vets already in school have run into problems including campus bureaucracy, crowds that can trigger alarm instincts honed by war and fellow students who don’t understand their battlefield experiences. In response, colleges across the country are offering veterans-only classes, adding counselors and streamlining the application and financial aid process. Under the new GI Bill expanded by Congress last year, the number of military veterans either starting or continuing their studies this fall is expected to top 460,000, up from 354,000 last fall, according to the Department of Veterans Affairs.